Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.

Police said thieves stole more than 42,000 pounds of meat when they took off with a loaded semi tractor-trailer last weekend.

Marshalltown police said the driver of a semi parked the trailer in a lot on Saturday near the intersection of Highways 30 and 14. When he came back to pick up the trailer on Monday, it was gone.The trailer belongs to Mid-Continent Trucking of Denison.Marshalltown Police Chief Jack McAllister said it's common for truckers to park their trailers in the lot overnight or for the weekend.

McAllister said the trailer was locked and the cooler left running. He said it took someone with a semi and knowledge of the locking system to take off with the trailer.